Thursday, July 26, 2007

Poor Michael Vick. The multi-talented quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons picked the wrong side business. Football doesn't seem to be enough to satisfy his interests. Vick and his associates got involved in the dog fighting business. His story has made front-page news across the country. USA Today carried an editorial that read, "Window on a cruel world." The editorial reports, "Vick and two associates allegedly 'executed approximately eight dogs ... by various methods, including hanging, drowning and slamming at least one dog's body to the ground.'" The editorial continues: "The animals' crime? They performed badly in 'testing' sessions to see how viciously they world fight."

If Vick had picked the abortion business, no one would have batted an eye. It would have been considered a shrewd business venture. In fact, he would be praised as a champion of women's rights. And if he had set up a "clinic" in a black neighborhood, he would have been called a "champion of the poor."

Every abortion is an execution. No, that's not right. An execution assumes a capital offense. Preborn babies are innocent victims. I heard CNN talker Nancy Grace describe the dog killings as murder and say Vick will probably get off like O.J. Simpson did because he's a celebrity athlete. How incredibly stupid!

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A preborn baby's head can be crushed in the partial-birth abortion procedure, and it's touted as a fundamental right. But don't slam a dog to the ground. That would be cruel. Am I missing something?

West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd, who voted no on making harming or killing a preborn baby in the commission of a crime a criminal offense, indirectly called for Vick's execution. Byrd said he's witnessed one execution but wouldn't mind seeing another "if it involves this cruel, sadistic, cannibalistic business of training innocent, vulnerable creatures to kill." Now if we can only get him to stand up for the unborn like he stands up for dogs.

Alveda King, pastoral associate of Priests for Life and niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., said that the allegations of animal cruelty announced in the case against Michael Vick demonstrate the disparity in the way the media have more regard for animals than they do for the unborn: "The appalling cruelty to dogs described in the complaint against Michael Vick immediately reminds me of another kind of cruelty that is not only not punished, but is protected by our authorities," said Dr. King. "I'm talking about the incredible cruelty suffered by babies who are stabbed, have limb torn from limb, or have their skulls crushed in the womb by abortionists. The pain these children endure is undoubtedly excruciating, yet we close our eyes and look the other way in the name of 'choice.'"

Our society is sick. How is it possible to rationalize the killing of preborn babies and then protest mightily against animal cruelty?

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Gary DeMar is president of American Vision, author of 23 books, including "Last Days Madness" and "Is Jesus Coming Soon?" and editor of The Biblical Worldview.